Gustav Fritz Papanek

Gustav Fritz Papanek (July 12, 1926 – September 20, 2022) was an Austrian American development economist.

Early life and education Gustav Fritz Papanek was born July 12, 1926, to Ernst Papanek and Helene Papanek (née Goldstern). He was named for Gustav Mahler and Fritz Adler. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to a Social Democratic housing development in Penzing, in the western part of Vienna.

Papanek's father was forced into exile following the Austrian Civil War of 1934. Following the Anschluss, the rest of the family fled to Paris in 1938. In September 1940, they emigrated by boat to New York City.

Education Papanek resumed his studies at Cornell following his military service. After graduation, he earned both a master's degree and a PhD in economics from Harvard University, where he studied under John Kenneth Galbraith. He also served as director of Harvard's Development Advisory Service.

In 1974, Papanek left Harvard to become the chair of economics at Boston University. He led the Boston Institute for Developing Economies for thirty years, advising governments on macroeconomic and microeconomic policies.

Personal life Papanek and his wife Hannah (née Kaiser) raised two children, Tom and Joanne.

Works Pakistan's Development, Social Goals, and Private Incentives (1967), Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Development Policy: Theory and Practice (1968), based on work of the Harvard University Development Advisory Service, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Decision Making for Economic Development: Text and Cases (1971), with Joseph J. Stern and Daniel M. Schydlowsky, Boston: Houghton Mifflin. The Indonesian Economy (1980), New York: Praeger. Lectures on Development Strategy, Growth, Equity, and the Political Process in Southern Asia (1986), with Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi, Islamabad: Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.